The Metaverse from the Eyes of a 10-Year Old

While all of us grown-ups, the press and corporate executives are chatting it up and speculating about the future of the Metaverse, I wanted to go a bit outside the box and get a different point of view.?To get a glimpse into the future generations’ true vision- I went straight to the source.?I turned to none other than my 10 year-old for a candid, unfiltered conversation (over pancakes).

Documented below is an unedited version of this interview:

What are your 3 favorite video games?

·???????Minecraft

·???????Roblox

·???????Animal Crossing

What do you like about Roblox?

There are a lot of games, and if you’re bored of one thing- you can do something else.

What’s your favorite Roblox game?

Royal High.?There’s a lot to do.

Have you ever paid real money from your piggy bank to buy Roblox or in-app accessories?

Yes- I’ve spent about $20 of my own money, and $30 I got from friends for my birthday for Roblox.

Have you spent real money on Fortnite??

I’ve spent about $40 on Fortnite.

What have you purchased with this money?

On Fortnite- I purchased skins (outfits for in-game avatars) and a BattlePass- which gets me skins and Vbux (in-game currency).?With the Vbux- I buy more skins.?On Roblox- I’ve purchased game passes which give you an advantage.?It’s basically “pay-to-win”.

What if you played w/o purchases- would they still be fun?

Roblox will still be a lot of fun without that.?There are thousands if not millions of games.?They’re not like if you purchase- you win.?There’s a lot to do- let’s take Royal High for example.?In Royal High- there are a lot of free updates where you can do quests.?The spending of money is optional- you don’t have to do it to have fun.

How about in Fortnite?

Spending money is optional.?Buying skins is just how you look in the game- nothing more.?It doesn’t help you win.?There are 2 reasons to spend your money- to look good and to help you win.

Are you glad you spent the money?

Maybe not on Fortnite.?But on Roblox- it makes it more fun, and it goes by quicker.?You don’t have to waste time farming for diamonds for hours with the multipliers and the faster-flying game pass.?It makes it more enjoyable- you don’t have to get stuff, you can just enjoy the updates.

For Minecraft or Animal Crossing- have you purchased anything for the game??

No, there’s not really anything available to buy.

Do you prefer the free model of Animal Crossing and Minecraft, or paid model for Fortnite and Roblox?

I prefer not to have the paid option- I like Animal Crossing and Minecraft better.

What are video games going to look like in 10 years?

You’re probably going to be able to play them in VR.?VR’s going to be the new thing.?Everyone’s going to have a room in their house where everyone can play VR.?There will be food-tubes- and food will just show up.

How many hours per day will people spend in the Metaverse?

5 hours per day.?A lot of my friends play Roblox for 5 hours per day already.

What do you think VR is?

It’s like an interactive world- you can walk in it.?There’s this one thing- you can put on this vest, and you get hit- it actually hurts.?

Does it sound cool to hurt when you get hit?

Yes.

Where did you learn about VR?

A while ago on YouTube.

Do your friends know about VR?

Yeah, I have a friend that has a VR headset.?They never want to play with me because they’re always on VR.

What do they play on it?

I have no idea, but it has voice chat, so they voice chat with other people- I’m not sure who.?They’re always on VR or watching Mr. Beast (YouTube star).

Are you excited about VR?

Thumbs up.

What do you think the Metaverse is?

It’s like a different universe on a computer or something.

If you were say 22 years old, graduated from college and in the real-world- would you spend time in VR?

Maybe. ?Probably.

What would you do?

I don’t know.?What if you could go to school in VR, everyone has a headset and they’re in their own home and everyone’s in a virtual school??It just helps.?If someone’s sick, they can still learn.?It may be a cooler way to learn, but you can’t make friends or talk to friends.?Maybe that’s not such a good idea.

What do you think of the Metaverse?

Cool I guess.?I don’t think that’s gonna happen.

If you got $50,000 when you turned 22- how much would you spend in the real -vs- virtual world?

More in the real world- so I can eat, sleep, live and don’t die.?I’d spend a lot less in the virtual world, but maybe a little bit.?Maybe like 20%.?If everyone’s doing that- then it might help my reputation.?Let’s say I’m getting a job, and they asked to see my house in the Metaverse, and I show them a really lame house and they think I’m not responsible enough.?Maybe they won’t hire me.?But if I do spend money in the Metaverse- and show them that it’s a good house, and I’m responsible- they’d say, “let’s give them the job”.

OK- we’re done, thanks for the interview.?What are you gonna do??

I want to play Animal Crossing with my friend, it’s her birthday.?

Should we buy a present for them and drop it off today??

I’m not sure, I don’t know what they want.?I bought them a cake in Animal Crossing.